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Queen Elizabeth School

Free School Meals

As QES is a Cumbrian school, all parents wishing to apply for Free School Meals, regardless of what county you live in, should make the application through Westmorland & Furness Council.

Your child will get free school meals if you receive any of the following:

If your child is eligible for and has been registered to receive free school meals between 1 April 2018 and the end of the rollout of Universal Credits (currently expected to be March 2024), they will remain eligible until they finish the phase of schooling (primary or secondary) they are in at the end of Universal Credits rollout. This is regardless of any change to your circumstances.

Please click the button below for the application form.

Application Form

Reading

Vision

At Lunesdale Learning Trust, we recognise the fundamental importance of language in terms of a young person articulating their own world view, personality and sense of self.

To be literate is to have a voice; it opens the door to a happy emotional, social and professional life. Empowering young people to feel confident in their use of language including reading, writing and speaking–is therefore at the heart of our focus on ‘Scholarship & Care’.

To this end, we offer a ‘support and inspire’ approach to Literacy, with adapted teaching and literacy interventions offering support, and a range of cross curricular literacy initiatives to inspire our young people to celebrate and enjoy their literacy, as well as two vibrant libraries to enjoy.

Aims

  • Colleagues at the Lunesdale Learning Trust will have a clear understanding of the ‘reading needs’ of our learners through the reading baseline assessment and sharing of reading ages and standardised reading scores.
  • For those pupils with below expected scores and reading ages, targeted support is implemented which leads to rapid progress in increasing their ability to read accurately, fluently and for meaning.
  • To develop and embed a positive reading culture across the whole Trust which will allow all readers to flourish for life, forging strong links with our librarians.
  • Staff at the Lunesdale Learning Trust to think in a granular and deliberate way about reading strategy using a shared language and approach to articulate this clearly to learners.
  • Staff at the Lunesdale Learning Trusts to support parents and guardians in supporting their child’s reading habits.

How this will be achieved:

  • We assess each pupil’s starting point and additional diagnostic assessments to be undertaken for those with below expected reading ages / below age related expectations. This data will be shared with staff via Bromcom trackers.
  • The Learning Support team will implement targeted interventions for those pupils identified along with liaison with our librarians who offer further interventions through library lessons.
  • Throughout the academic year, further diagnostic assessments along with annual NGRT tests to be undertaken at timely milestones to monitor and measure impact of the interventions.
  • We will develop a positive reading culture across the curriculum by raising the profile of reading both inside and outside the classroom
  • Working with Heads of Departments, we will develop curriculum reading within subject areas.
  • Working with parents and carers, we will increase parental engagement.

Diagnostic assessments

Diagnostic assessments

CATs, NGRT and GL assessments will be used to provide baseline data. This will be used to inform class teachers of respective reading ages and standardise scores to better meet pupils’ needs within the classroom. From this, class teachers will be able to adapt their curriculum implementation accordingly. 

Additional assessments using various programmes will be undertaken for those pupils with a reading age below their chronological age in order to put in place a targeted, bespoke support package.

Interventions

Interventions

We do not wish to narrow the breadth of our curriculum offer for pupils and, as such, we will deliver the relevant intervention creatively within and outside of the timetabled curriculum. Within the Learning Support department, we offer several interventions to narrow the gap of reading and promote pupils’ comprehension. We offer:

  • 1:1/paired reading. Pupils in year 7, 8 and 9 are paired with a member of learning support or a KS4 or 5 Student Leader and sessions take place during form time.
  • Small group reading with a LSA or a Student Leader in groups of three or four.
  • Lexonik Leap – small group intervention which effectively resolves phonics gaps for learners who find literacy particularly challenging and those for whom English is not their first language, rapidly progressing reading, spelling and oracy. Specially trained LSAs conduct an initial diagnostic assessment to allow for an individualised learning pathway, meaning the duration of the programme is dictated by the level of need.
  • Cumbrian Reading Intervention (CRI) – delivered by a specially trained LSA. They will typically work with one pupil for forty sessions over a ten week period. Following initial assessment sessions there are forty teaching sessions. It focuses on phonology to allow pupils to gain tools to narrow the gap in their reading/ learning.
  • Additional Literacy- We offer additional Literacy lessons to our year 8 and 9 pupils who we identify in year 7 through interventions and their progress in English who need additional intervention. Three LSAs deliver the additional literacy programme, teach back to basics Literacy, and focus on reading comprehension. Pupils are withdrawn from one of their MFL lessons and have three lessons over a two week period.
  • Additional English – In Key Stage 4, some students may opt or be advised to take Additional English as one of their five options. This helps to support and develop their progress with reading and writing.

Monitoring interventions to ensure pupil progress

Monitoring interventions to ensure pupil progress

At key points in the academic year, pupils who are on the above interventions will have their progress reviewed. This review point will be delivered and assessed by the Learning Support team. With the relevant accurate data provided, the Learning Support team will review the intervention in place and determine next steps.

Staff Development

Staff Development

To ensure that our staff are prepared with effective strategies and resources to promote and develop pupils’ reading we have dedicated a significant proportion of our CPD time to reading. Staff will receive CPD on:

  • Reading data and interventions offered at the Lunesdale Learning Trust and how staff can adapt teaching to suit the ‘reading ages’ of pupils whilst also covering the breadth and challenge of the curriculum.
  • Reading aloud: how to read aloud effectively, using tone, voice and pitch.
  • Reciprocal reading: what it is and how to use it within the classroom.
  • Department curriculum and reading: reading demands in subject areas and how to plan and resource effectively both in the classroom and through reading homework.

Develop curriculum reading in subject areas

Develop curriculum reading in subject areas

Led by Heads of Department, class teachers will review their curriculum areas using
the EEF ‘Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools’ audit, exploring:

  • What reading looks like in their curriculum areas and reviewing how reading is ‘taught’ in their specific domains.
  • Resourcing reading in their curriculum.
  • How staff can adapt their curriculum for those pupils who struggle with their
    reading.

Parental Engagement

Parental Engagement

A number of strategies are used to better engage parents and guardians:

  • We are working towards creating a termly library newsletter to act as a ‘Reading Corner’ with tips for encouraging reluctant readers, book recommendations and literacy games to try at home.
  • During Subject Review Evenings, we offer tailored information and book recommendations to year groups parents/guardians alongside promoting this through Accessit and on our school website.
  • All Year 6 pupils are given a suggested reading list and a reading tracker the summer before they start at QES. Reference to students’ summer reading is included in the library induction programme where students are encouraged to return their trackers and share their summer reading.
  • We will include further information for parents and carers during the induction sessions we offer in Term 1.
  • We promote and share our events in the library and for reading across the Trust through our use of social media, mainly our Twitter account.